Michael J. Merenda Jr. is a singer-songwriter with the American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

band,

the Mammals The Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley area of New York, in the United States. The band tours internationally and consists of founding members and principal songwriters Mike Merenda (guitar, banjo) and Ruth Un ...

. He plays guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

and percussion. He also has a solo career and performs with the Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band. Merenda was raised in

Durham, New Hampshire Durham is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, 2011. D ...

. He is married to

Ruth Ungar Ruth Ungar Merenda was born February 19, 1976, in Mount Kisco, New York. She is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays fiddle, ukulele and guitar. She is the daughter of fiddler/composer Jay Ungar and singer Lyn Hardy and a gra ...

, daughter of Jay Ungar and Lyn Hardy.

Biography

Merenda grew up in Durham, New Hampshire, where his father is a faculty member at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

. In 1998, he graduated with a creative writing degree from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

in Maine and he then moved to New York City. As a teenager Merenda started out playing guitar with the band Skarotum with his brother Chris. He started playing drums in elementary school, started playing the guitar in sixth grade and picked up the banjo after he met Ruth Ungar in 1998. In 2000 Merenda moved to Western Massachusetts and in 2001 he, Ruth Ungar and

Tao Rodriguez-Seeger ''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other philo ...

started

The Mammals The Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley area of New York, in the United States. The band tours internationally and consists of founding members and principal songwriters Mike Merenda (guitar, banjo) and Ruth Un ...

. As well as being a member of the Mammals, Merenda has an active solo career with three CDs in his own name. He was supporting act for

Dan Bern Dan Bern (also known as Bernstein; born July 27, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, novelist and painter. His music has been compared to that of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Ochs and Elvis Costello.Brett ...

in November 2006. In 2008 he and his wife released their first duo cd, ''The Honeymoon Agenda'', on their own record label, Humble Abode Music

"Michael Merenda Bio". Retrieved September 4, 2007

Notes

Discography

Solo

*''Trapped in the Valley'' (2000) *''Election Day'' (2004) *''Quiver'' (2006)

Mike and Ruthy

*''The Honeymoon Agenda'' (2008) *''Waltz of the Chickadee'' (2009) *''Million to One'' (2010)

With The Mammals

*''Born Live'' (2001) *''Evolver'' (2002) *''Migration'' (EP)(2004) *''Rock That Babe'' (2004) *''Departure'' (2006)

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060618060903/http://www.michaelmerenda.com/ * http://www.mikeandruthy.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Merenda, Michael J. Jr. American folk musicians American multi-instrumentalists 1976 births Bowdoin College alumni Living people American banjoists American folk singers American male singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters